The firm managing the data centre of British Airways has denied reports the IT systems failure that grounded flights over the weekend was a result of a contractor turning off the power supply by mistake.
The Times has reported the power supply unit at the data centre that caused the IT meltdown was operating fine until a contractor doing maintenance work switched it off while doing maintenance work.
A source told the newspaper that the airline’s investigation into the issue was now likely to focus on human error rather than equipment failure.
CBRE, which manages the facilities at the airline’s Boadicea House data centre near Heathrow, hit back at the claims.
“We are the manager of the facility for our client BA and fully support its investigation,” it said in a statement.
“No determination has been made yet regarding the cause of this incident. Any speculation to the contrary is not founded in fact.”
Cause of IT failure not yet determined, IAG says
British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:IAG) has said that its investigation was ongoing and the cause of the power outage had not yet been determined.
Bill Francis, head of IT IAG, said an uninterruptible power supply to a core data centre at Heathrow was over-ridden.
“This resulted in the total immediate loss of power to the facility, bypassing the backup generators and batteries… After a few minutes of this shutdown of power, it was turned back on in an unplanned and uncontrolled fashion, which created physical damage to the system, and significantly exacerbated the problem.”
In an effort to cut costs, Francis announced in 2015 the company would be outsourcing IT jobs to India.
The GMB union suggested that the company’s decision to cut costs and outsource IT roles had left it vulnerable to system failures.
Alex Cruz denies cost cuts left British Airways vulnerable to IT meltdown...
But British Airways chief executive, Alex Cruz, said outsourcing was not to blame for the IT failure.
“I can confirm that all the parties involved around this particular event have not been involved in any type of outsourcing in any foreign country. They have all been local issues around a local data centre who has been managed and fixed by local resources," he said.
Cruz, who was head of fellow IAG-owned Vueling before replacing Keith Williams as chief executive of British Airways in April 2016, said he would not be stepping down over the indent.
IAG boss Willie Walsh backed up the management team at British Airways, saying they “did everything they could in the circumstances”. His remarks came as the British Airways board demands an external inquiry into the incident.
Sky-high bill for British Airways as IAG reports trading update...
The carrier is expected to face a £100mln bill for compensation, additional customer care and lost business resulting from the IT systems failure that led to cancellations and delays for 75,000 passengers over the bank holiday weekend.
Flights from Heathrow and Gatwick were grounded on Saturday, causing delays and cancellations through Monday.
IAG reports a trading update on Tuesday, which may provide further details on the financial impact of the incident.
Tough market for airlines amid Brexit and security issues in Europe...
Away from the IT issue, IAG also faces sector-wide challenges of Brexit, a pricing war between airlines and security worries in Europe.
Ryanair warned in its full year results on 30 May that it expects air fares to fall again this year due to a weaker pound and continuing excess capacity in Europe.
Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst, George Salmon, said with its plans to cut fares by a further 5-7%, “there seems little change of industry-wide pricing pressures easing anytime soon”.